Having a massive interest in digital and music, I often have ideas or read things online about different methods of reaching audiences online. Being a failed musician myself, I can only experiment with these opportunities with my friends bands or observe other people’s experiments. Having read a lot about the importance of building a database of fans and the most effective ways of giving music away for free, particularly from Mr Trent Reznor who seems to have a decent grasp of the benefits of digital distribution to the music industry (see http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?30,767183,767183) – I decided that I’d try and help Foetal Juice reach the online death metal community and see if we can get a grasp of who is interested in the band.

They simply asked me for a way of storing their latest demo online for people to download for free, but I seized the opportunity to build the aforementioned fan database. The system I built takes minimal details from the user along with a compulsory newsletter subscription (which the user can later opt out of). Had we been spending any money on this, I’d have used a postcode lookup script for the location management, but for now I decided just to ask the user which city they’re from. This then gives us the power to tell each user when there is a Foetal Juice gig in their area, a very powerful tool if the database fills up. It may even enable the band to finally book a show in London.

Each user is emailed the link to the EP, which is unique for every person. Once they have clicked the link, it expires. They may re-activate their link if they fill the form out again, but this stops people from just sharing the direct link to the files (the location of which is hidden to the public by a PHP download script) – so that we know who everyone is that is interested in the EP. One drawback I’ve experienced so far is that my host (GoDaddy) obviously has a large outgoing mail queue, so sometimes the email is instant and sometimes it takes a few minutes to come through.

You can find the system I built for Foetal Juice at www.willbeardmore.com/foetal/demo (we’ll be moving it to their domain when I get access to it). The awesome artwork on there is done by Chris Henry. If you like what you hear, the best place to find out more is their MySpace or their Facebook. They are on Twitter, but it’s not managed very well at the moment.

I’d be interested to hear if anyone has done any experiments like this in the past and how successful they were? If you’re looking to get some free music, is it a deterrent when the website requests your email? Have you used the system I built for Foetal Juice, what did you think?

A hell of a lot has happened since my last post. Needless to say I didn’t quit drinking, but I’m happy to report that I’ve not had any incidents of the previously blogged “cloud of shame” either.

In order to get any interviews, it’s essential to have a good CV. Not one for being concise, I had a 2 page CV with a couple of paragraphs introducing myself and my career goals, hoping my passion for the internet (and music, depending on the job) came across. Well, after applying to numerous jobs without any response, my good friend (and fellow New Media graduate), Chris Cuevas offered to have a gander. He gutted it, spent a full day coming up with a much better layout and concise document that would no doubt have led to many more callbacks had I been using it all summer. So after a bit of word changes and slight tinkers, my new CV is ready to be unleashed on the world of digital recruitment (if the previously alluded to opportunity doesn’t come to fruition). Take a look for yourself here and let me know what you think.

This summer’s been a particularly busy one for gallivanting around. First there was the Rage Against the Machine victory celebration gig at Finsbury Park, which I’m sure most people will have heard was a truly excellent moment to behold. It was made all the more special for me with their choice of support acts, Gallows and Gogol Bordello. Next up was my first ever experience of VIP access at a festival when myself and fellow Leeds Student Television member Chris Pendlebury were granted press access to this year’s Download Festival. Throughout the weekend there were moments when I felt we were imposters, just waiting for someone to question our legitimacy, but it was an unbelievable experience and I’m quite proud of the programme we made. See it for yourself at this location or below (presented and edited by me).

Having bought a Sonisphere Festival ticket back in December in order to secure myself a free Poland ticket (which I didn’t end up using…), I ended up going to the festival on my own. Staying in Potters Bar (thanks Iain!) and travelling everyday to Knebworth, I couldn’t pass the opportunity to watch so many great bands in one weekend. As predicted, I still managed to have a great time and even managed not to spend all my time on my own with the aid of Twitter! Being the massive Anthrax fan I am, they were a particular highlight, Rammstein were incredible and a perfect headliner, and my friend Tom Dare (AKA @Repka) introduced me to the band that impressed me the most over the weekend, Kylesa. I unfortunately had to leave during Iron Maiden’s set to ensure I made it home. Truth be told, I wasn’t that gutted. It irritated me that they treated the festival gig like it was their own and played a pretty selfish set list… at least that was my take on it anyway.

So, the mysterious opportunity I may have. I don’t want to say too much about it in case it doesn’t happen, but I may be heading to London very shortly to commence a 3 month digital internship (unfortunately unpaid, but it’s an incredible opportunity). I’m hoping I manage to impress the people at this organisation and it becomes my step into a career and industry I’ve been fantasising about working in for years. Wish me luck folks!

I think this is my lot. I’m sure there’s more that I’ve forgotten. Ah well. Oh yeah, I went to the “Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup” polo tournament just before Sonisphere… that was interesting! My posh housemate is a goal judge there and wanted us to experience it and see where he lived. It was a very pleasant weekend, can’t say Polo is that exciting though.

This website is still unfinished, I need to finish some layout designs and I need to add content to my portfolio. Once I find some time, I’ll try and get it done. In the meantime, I’m in the middle of writing a blog on HTML5 and I have managed to upload my “Will Through The Ages” gallery. Head here to check it out.

So yeah, I shall hopefully be seeing some of you in London very soon!

Drinking Rosé wine instead of my usual tipple of cider or lager (prices were ridiculous) I got drunk very quickly, which resulted in my friend finding me in the welfare tent with suspicious pulp on my face. Following hearing my night relayed to me in bits of second hand information – it’s safe to say I had a bit of a nightmare and may have made a massive bosom of myself.

By most accounts, I’m a pretty harmless drunk. Extremely affectionate and very silly. I enjoy it. The problem I’m always faced with is the worry the morning after when I’ve forgotten everything and then the inappropriate things I’ve said to whoever I’ve spoken to. Couple that with my tendency to just disappear when I think my night’s over and the shyness of sober Will returning when I’m talking to these people the following day – it leaves me with a horrible cloud of shame.

I’ve had great nights when I’m drunk, the majority in fact – I enjoy it a lot and people usually enjoy my company. It’s just the odd western (Western Super Mare – Nightmare) that makes me feel extremely self conscious about it all.

I had a sober month leading up to the end of my degree and it was refreshing to not have a write off day at least once a week. Shameful days like today always make me reconsider whether it’s worth it – it’d certainly save me a lot of money.

I know I won’t quit drinking though, drunk Will isn’t a big fan of sober people and sober Will really doesn’t like drunks – it just wouldn’t work. That, and I’ve got the Download Festival and the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards next week – the opportunity really isn’t around!

Now hear me out, I’m not an unreasonable fella. Nor am I about to crucify eclecticism… but the manure I’ve had to suffer spewing from this particular gentleman’s vocal chords regarding the tunelessness of my beloved heavy metal is the reason I’m currently blasting Slayer at top volume and writing this blog.

It’s a problem that isn’t isolated to said Jack Wills donning trend follower, Richard West. It is something I’ve encountered with many a heavy metal nay-sayer. There’s something about the popular metal bands that makes them exempt from the umbrella of “your music” (when referring to the noise that pollutes the air of my bedroom) that I cannot fathom – and this angers me. These bands are MY bands. I listen to them. A lot. I listen to them more than playing guitar hero. I pay my hard earned money to buy their records, t-shirts and gig tickets. And more importantly, I stick up for them.

To me, there’s very little difference in listening to Metallica’s Fade to Black and listening to Anthrax’s Armed and Dangerous or Megadeth’s In My Darkest Hour. However, because Metallica went on to record the most popular metal album ever 6 years later, their entire back catalogue is exempt from the tarred brush that other metal suffers from the mainstream parasites. Metallica inspired the majority of bands I listen to that released a record after 1983. Metallica still operate in these circles, taking bands such as Machine Head, The Sword and Gojira on tour with them – all of which means they very much belong to the umbrella of metal.

What is it then, that makes Metallica so acceptable? What is it that makes them so different to other popular metal bands such as Megadeth, Pantera and (to a lesser extent) Black Sabbath? Why shouldn’t I get angry when I have to defend the talent of my favourite musicians and those of us that favour the angrier music in life – when I hear someone on the other side of the argument claiming one of MY bands as their own?

My blog here probably doesn’t make much sense. And that’s due to the fact that I can’t make any sense of my anger either. I probably look like a bit of a cretin after this, why should it anger me that one of my favourite bands has another fan? It certainly wouldn’t anger me if it was anyone but this particular person listening to it. That’s why I should probably just forget it and attend anger management. Maybe I’ll come out and listen to high school musical songs, and he’ll write a similar blog as to how I’ve ridiculed him for so long… and now I’m listening to HIS music.

In order to win £1000, a video camera and VIP access at the festival, I need my faithful friends and readers (all 2 of you) to head to this link and like the video for “Will, 21 from Lancashire” (posted on 30th April 2010 at about 10am).

I’m quite happy with my video. Don’t quite know what happened with the layout of my 5 Download Festival photos (it’s supposed to be balanced/symmetrical) and my head seems to be stuck leaning towards my shoulder – but otherwise I hope I come across as knowledgeable and enthusiastic.

So yeah, a final drill home:
Head here: facebook.com/lowdown2010
Click like on “Will, 21 from Lancashire”.

Ta.

I witnessed one of the most memorable festival performances I’ve ever seen when My Chemical Romance headlined Download. Not because I twatted around hurling bottles at hard working musicians, but because I watched the one and only Suicidal Tendencies tear the 3rd stage a new one. Failing the unlikely event that you can’t find anyone to watch because your closed minded brain can’t handle anything slightly lighter than your usual grunts, there’s always the camp site and bars. Many of my most memorable festival experiences have happened around a crate of beer on the camp site and friends of mine (I never understand it) barely leave the place.

Here’s a thought I had about the value of a festival such as Download. Of course it’s not factoring in set lengths and sound quality but it’s a basic idea of how much you’re getting your moneys worth. Value has been estimated and ridiculous Aerosmith ticket prices have been ignored.

AC/DC – AT LEAST £50
Aerosmith – £50
Rage Against The Machine – £50
Them Crooked Vultures – £20 (maybe more when you factor who’s in the band, but they only have 1 album!)
Deftones – £20 (ticket price recouped…)
Stone Temple Pilots Reunion (is it the UK premier?) – £30
Wolfmother – £20
Megadeth – £20
Motorhead – £20 (although I paid £30 last time)
Lamb of God – £20
Billy Idol – £15/Priceless
Five Finger Death Punch – £15
Cinderella – £10
Saxon – £15
Hell Yeah – £15/Maybe £20 when you factor in the draw of Vinnie Paul. Shame they’re really dull.
Ratt – £10
Dommin – £10
Taking Dawn – £10

So that’s double your money before you even get to the 2nd and 3rd stages. So to all of those moaners… we know you bought your ticket ages ago.

2. Pantera
I was relatively early with Pantera (when put into context). I bought “Cowboys From Hell” when I was about 13 or 14 – which sat awkwardly amongst my Nu Metal CDs. Unfortunately this was still after the band had ceased to be. If I’d been just a year earlier, I still wouldn’t have been able to see them live (which of course would be the ideal scenario), but I’d have had a ticket to see them live – which would at least give me a little more “fan” points. Looking back at older Kerrang magazines that I subscribed to for my weekly fix of Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach and Linkin Park news, I discovered a small advertisement [link] for an event named “Tattoo The Planet” featuring Slayer and Pantera. This was the famed Pantera tour that was cancelled due to the horrific events on the 11th September 2001 in New York which signalled the end of the band. A slightly less pathetic justification of my disappointment that I didn’t properly discover Pantera earlier was the fact that the album I bought after “Cowboys” was “The Great Southern Trendkill” – which at the time was far too heavy for my tender little ears. This stunted my Pantera growth until I saw Damageplan at Download 2004 and I was helpfully pointed back in the right direction.

3. Crowbar
Crowbar are one of the bands that after hearing, quickly became one of my favourite bands. After I bought the “Equilibrium/Odd Fellows Rest” double album, I had to go out and buy the rest of the catalogue. It’s looking increasingly like they’ll be returning to our little island soon (they’re supporting Sepultura in other European countries) – but I could have already seen them! In 2005, Crowbar supported Hatebreed on their UK tour and they toured on their own around this time too – even worse is one of my friends was dragged to one of the Crowbar gigs by her boyfriend at the time. Had I just been 2 years earlier, I’d have seen Crowbar touring their “Lifesblood For The Downtrodden” album, a personal favourite of mine. Ah well, at least they’re active again!

4. Weedeater
I was actually invited to see Weedeater and declined. It was closely after a heavy weekend (possibly a Damnation Festival) and a couple of my friends were going and thought I’d enjoy it, but I was all gigged out. A few months later I checked them out and couldn’t stop playing the “God Luck and Good Speed” record and instantly regretted my feeble laziness.

5. Corrosion of Conformity
A friend of mine introduced me to Corrosion of Conformity a long time ago. I paid little attention and I’ve lived to regret it. A decent sized group of my friends went to see C.O.C. around the same time that Crowbar toured and I blissfully ignored the occurrence. I can’t remember what caused me to check them out again, but it wasn’t long after the gig and they’re now my 11th most played band (according to Last.fm) and my 4th most played band this year.

6. Gallows
I’ve missed so many opportunities to see Gallows it’s ridiculous. I’ve been at more than one festival that they’ve played and I’ve been aware of them playing in either Leeds or Manchester on more than one occasion. Their recent Sheffield gig came at the wrong time for me (the night before a deadline) so I have yet to see them live. “Grey Britain” was introduced to me via my weekly intake of the Metal Hammer podcast, and it really is as good as host, Terry Bezer keeps saying. I’d been asked a few times before if I liked Gallows, but by people I thought had dreadful tastes in music – which always put me off checking them out. I’d heard “Belly of a Shark” and thought it was OK, but nothing that would compel me to buy an album. However after Spotifying “Grey Britain” my opinion changed drastically. I bought the record and it’s now a walking/driving iPod staple.

7. Witchcraft
I’ve seen Witchcraft. They were excellent. The problem was that I didn’t know any songs. A friend of mine encouraged me to accompany them to the gig (he needed somewhere to crash in Leeds…), so I went along and was thoroughly impressed. Cut to 2 years later – they’re my 14th most listened to band and “Firewood” is one of my favourite bodies of work I own. Had I listened to recommendations earlier I’d have been so much more into the gig and it would have meant so much more! Here’s hoping they return to our shores soon.

8. Gorerotted
I never used to get along with extreme metal. It was fine. We lived our separate lives, I was fine without it and it was fine without me. Whilst my friends were attending gigs by the likes of Cannibal Corpse and Gorerotted I sat at home listening to my thrash and classic rock records. It wasn’t until I heard my mate Sam’s band, Foetal Juice that I got bitten by the extreme metal bug. I’m not “Mr Death Metal” by any stretch of the imagination, but if I’m ever looking for some aggressive music, nothing soothes my itch like sticking Gorerotted’s “Only Tools and Corpses” on. Unfortunately, I was too late to the party to see them live. On the other hand I’m rather a fan of Gorerotted’s spin off, The Rotted and have seen them on more than one occasion – so all is not lost.

9. Megadeth
They’re my favourite band and I got into them 17 years into their career. If I’d been into Megadeth just a little earlier, I might have seen the Dave Mustaine, Al Pitrelli, Jimmy DeGrasso and David Ellefson lineup and performances of songs like “Return to Hangar” and “Burning Bridges”. I’m not too gutted at this one though, as I’ve more than made up for any moments I may have missed by seeing the band 10 times thus far, meeting them 3 times and even going to the studio to hear tracks from “United Abominations” 5 months before you. Did I mention I’m a bit of a fan?

10. Type O Negative
Similar to Witchcraft, I’ve seen Type O Negative live. I loved them at the time, and I even paid a greedy ticket tout £50 for the privilege to get inside the Manchester Academy 2 to witness their performance. I discovered Type O when their cheap Roadrunner produced best of was released. I’d always heard good things, but not from anyone that would force me to check them out. This was one of my prouder impulse buys. So why was I too late? I saw Type O on the “Dead Again” tour when, at the time, I only owned the “Best of Type O Negative”. Since attending the gig, I’ve purchased the entire back catalogue and “Dead Again” is my favourite. The disappointment comes when I think back, I can recall faint memories of some of the riffs from “Dead Again” being played live, but I couldn’t appreciate them fully. Had I been more prepared, the gig would have been even better.

Well, even with some very important deadlines looming, I found myself clahning around on Photoshop.

The first came from my (mentally and physically) unhealthy love of Mr Colonel Sander’s finest fast food establishments (particularly when consuming the Wicked Zinger Tower meal, with gravy and a large diet coke…). It could be neater, but it’s only for a bit of fun. Would probably have been better to do this as a vector image, but I’m a lot less experienced with vectors than Photoshop. So without further ado, I give you Colonel Beardmore:

The second image is inspired by my favourite podcast, the highly recommended Metal Hammer Podcast with Messrs Gill and Bezer. This one’s more of an in joke, and needs no explaining to those who listen. To those that don’t get it, you clahns need to listen to the podcast.

Now back to my final year deadlines…

So, as I said earlier, as a Megadeth fan, I’ve had to familiarise myself with change. My problem is I get comfortable. I liked James MacDonough and mourned his departure when James Lomenzo stepped in, only to realise that the change was for the better. I loved Glen Drover and was extremely gutted when he and his smooth tone departed, but Chris Broderick more than stepped up to the job. With James Lomenzo’s departure, I’m feeling the same kind of mourning… but the change is so much more significant!

I credit James Lomenzo with bringing a lot of energy back to the Megadeth live show. If you see footage of Megadeth from the Gigantour 2006 DVD (Lomenzo’s first tour), you’ll see a fairly boring Megadeth. If you see footage from the tours that followed – when Lomenzo got comfortable (such as Megadeth’s infamous Download festival performance of 2007) you’ll see a reignited Megadeth. Their live shows have kicked severe ass ever since.

He’s a really nice chap, and comes across very personable in interviews and the one time I had the pleasure of meeting him – and he’s a monster on the bass. “Washington is Next!” has one of the most incredible bass lines I’ve ever heard and seen performed – and it will be interesting as to whether this song will ever feature in Megadeth’s live repertoire again. I look forward to hearing more details on Lomenzo’s departure. What I hope to hear is that he wanted to leave for whatever reason – and Dave sought out to please the fans and brought Junior back into the fold. It’d taint Ellefson’s return to think that JLo was driven out.

Now, of course I’m happy to see David Ellefson back. It’s fantastic that after all the bullshit of $18 million lawsuits and interview gags whenever the Megadeth subject comes up will be over and the two most important characters in Megadeth history will once again be sharing a stage, writing music and touring the world together. Even better for the American audience (and hopefully everyone else…) is that they get to see the entire “Rust In Peace” album performed by half of the lineup that recorded it. It’ll be a treat to see Ellefson back and it adds special value to the upcoming big 4 tour and Download performance.

One thought I did have stems from a point that was raised on the Metal Hammer podcast recently in which Mr Terry Bezer stated that Megadeth are more relevant now than they’ve been in a long time. I worry now that the throwbacks to the past will overshadow the critical success of “Endgame” and the hard work the 2008/9 lineup put into the album, only to find themselves touring a CD that came out in 1990. “Endgame” hasn’t been properly toured. Due to complications with upcoming Slayer tours, Megadeth have only been to Canada, Australia, Japan and some of the States in support of the record. I’ve been eagerly awaiting an indoor European tour where I’ll get to hear “This Day We Fight” and “Headcrusher” and hopefully deeper album cuts like “The Right To Go Insane” and “How the Story Ends” live – but I fear this may be in jeopardy.

So in summary, I have mixed feelings about the latest change, as I always do. It’s exciting to see Ellefson back, but it’s heartbreaking to see James Lomenzo leave. Thanks for everything James and welcome back Junior!

I’m sure I’ll be tweeting more about this so follow me at @willbeardmore.

The fundamental idea of making the whole web accessible for all people of differing abilities – both mental and physical, is a fantastic idea and a no brainer. Why wouldn’t you want your website to reach as many people as possible? Hell, if it were easy, I imagine most websites would have different languages available too.

There are many steps a developer/designer can take to make their websites accessible, something that I’m going to strive to do. Using lesser known markup like <label> instead of laying forms out with tables and ensuring all of your content passes through the W3C’s validation process makes sense to me. My problem with accessibility writing is the soapbox style that most of them adopt – and the ludicrous threat of prosecution if websites fail to meet accessibility standards. The Disability Rights Commission published a report in 2004 stating that “where the response is inadequate, we shall be vigorous in the use of our enforcement powers; these range from “named- party” Formal Investigations which can lead to sanctions against the owners of inaccessible websites”. Granted, they’re referring to commercial websites only, but still – threats like this are surely enough to turn the rookie developer off.

If people are scared of developing websites – where will that take innovation?